nelson mandela saw the value of sport. he used it to bring a sense of togetherness m tonight, athletes took to twitter to pay their respects. robert griffin iii tweeted rest in peace, nelson mandela. kirk cousins said what a life he was. a leader of incredible moral influence. a living picture of the power. mandela used sports to make changes that diplomacy cannot. this is a quote from his in 1995. sport has the power to change the world. it has the power to unite people in a way that little else does. it was just a year after mandela was elected president he turned to sport to help unite his still divided country. it was the 1995 rugby world cup. mandela encouraged the nation to believe in the slogan of one team, one country. the image of mandela wearing the color and handing the trophy to the team captain was a symbol of unification. 63,000 people in the stands for the game. afterwards, the captain summed up saying we didn't have the support of 63,000 south africans today, we have the support of 42 million. we are hearin